Married Life
by Stormfoedt
Summary: It was just another Mission, a boring mission to help pay the rent and get food and clothes and whatnot. But then, like so many other times, things did not go exactly according to the plan. At least not according to HER plan. Lucy POV. I know the description is.. well.. BAD, but come on guys. You'll love it!
1. Chapter 1, The Mission

*****I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. This is something I came across in my file and that I had all but forgotten about until now. While it is an interesting concept I do not know where this is heading.**

**Anyways, I thought it might be interesting for you all to see it.*****

I opened my eyes, stared at white ceiling. It was a ceiling I had grown used to seeing when I woke up, and told me that no, I was not on some mission at the moment. I was home. The thought made me smile as I stretched my arms far above my head and sat up in my bed.

Pink. Pink was a word that could describe the room very well. Pink tapestry. Pink bed sheets. Even a pink carpet that covered the floor. I had always adored pink, even before everything. Before I decided to grab my own freedom and make a run for it.

The sun shone brightly through pink curtains, made it through a small crack and lit up a stripe on the floor. As part of my morning routine I opened the curtain and let the summer breeze in by widening the gap in my partly opened window. Blue sky without a cloud in sight. This would be a good day, surely.

Into the bathroom. I washed my face and looked at my reflection. Brown eyes, blonde hair. Speaking of hair, I would need to do something about that bed head. Out came the brush and I started the oddly comforting task of brushing through the knots in my hair, finishing it all with a small ponytail in order to keep it out of my face.

* * *

Bacon flew through the air before it landed in the frying pan once more. I was fully dressed, at the moment preparing breakfast in the form of toast, egg and bacon. So I stood in my kitchen, frying pan in one hand and a book borrowed from Levy that I only had a few pages left of in my other hand. It was a good book. A book with princesses, princes and dragons. The happily ever after was just around the corner now.

The book ended just as I had hoped it would, with the girl and the boy living happily ever after in their castle by the sea. It made me all giddy and I took a pirouette in the kitchen before my attention went back to the bacon. It was done, and perfectly so, too. A perfect ending and perfect bacon on a perfect day without a cloud in sight. It was indeed a good day.

* * *

I stood by the sink, washing the dishes used to make breakfast. It wasn't much, so I was soon done. Afterwards I checked the fridge in order to see if I needed to fill up on some of my stocks. Nope, good to go. I laughed to myself for no apparent reason seeing how I for once didn't have any gluttons visit me yesterday, thus letting me keep my food for at least one day longer. Not that I resented my friends by any means, they were whacked out and annoying and gluttonous and.. anyways. Team Natsu, as in Erza, Happy, Gray and Natsu.. they were still friends. Fairy Tail was still family no matter how crazy they might be.

* * *

I stood in front of the mirror once more. Keys, check. Fleur de Toile, check. Book for Levy, check. I struck a pose, smiled brilliantly at my reflection. Did I look good or what today? Happy with the reflection I left my apartment, locked the door and took a big breath of the fresh air that awaited me.

The sun shone down on me, warming me up and increasing my already fantastic mood. Birds twittered about, flew above me seemingly without a worry in the world and the river sparkled like a thousand sapphires in the morning sun.

"Ehem," came the grunt from the only one that might've been able to lower my bright mood. The landlady stood in front of me, her foot tapping the ground impatiently. Not today. She would NOT ruin my mood today. Without a word I took out an envelope that I had NOT forgotten inside and handed it to her, the envelope containing the rent for this time around. With that the fury left in a reasonably good mood as well, her mission for today accomplished.

"Gate of the Canis Minor, Nicola!" I shouted while gripping the correct key and Plue, the Canis Minor, appeared. With that I started on my way to the guild, balancing by the riverside as I so often did while thinking of what I should do once I arrived at the guild. Perhaps should I take up another job with Natsu in order to start working on saving up to my oncoming rent? Or maybe for some more clothes. I could need another pair of shoes…

"Be careful, lady!" came the shout from the boys on the boat and I waved at them, replied that yes, I would be careful. The sun felt good against my skin while the summer breeze played with my hair and kept the temperature good while I used my arms to keep steady as I walked slowly towards my destination, the Fairy Tail building. Plue waggled behind me on his shaky legs and I started humming on some melody while the water shimmered and reflected moving patterns in the shadows. What a good day it was!

* * *

The day started to deteriorate the moment I opened the door to the guildhall and promptly fell to the ground upon being hit by a flying chair. Plue waved his goodbye in front of my head and vanished from my side. Probably for the best. As I got up I noticed that another brawl was in full progress in front of me and that I probably should consider myself lucky that it only was a chair that hit jackpot in the myriad of spells, people, tables and booze that flew through the air. Ah, Fairy Tail. At times I forgot what kind of guild this was.

So I entered the building, the sun leaving my side as I stepped into the shadowed hall, heading for the bar counter while skillfully avoiding flying objects, a skill that had to be acquired reasonably fast in order to survive in this place. That or the ability to sustain the extensive amount of damage that followed by being hit several times a day. Most members of Fairy Tail seemed to belong under the second category.

"Yo. What's up, Lucy?" Gray greeted me as I reached the counter where Mirajane just had returned temporarily in order to fill up some mugs with beer for some customers.

"Oh.. hi Gray. You're not in that…" I had no words to describe the cloud of fighting bodies behind us so I just gestured in that general direction. He seemed to get it though and held up his iced beer.

"Having a short break. 'Sides, Natsu's not here today. Heard he went on some mission with Happy earlier this morning." he replied. A break, huh. And Natsu already left without me on a mission. What was I to do today then? Oh well, I might as well start off by finding Levy and hand her the book I had borrowed before I decided whether or not to take on some petty mission while I awaited the return of my partner and the promise of greater adventures that return likely would promise.

Around that train of thoughts a chain reaction was triggered. As mentioned I was amongst those that relatively soon had developed a knack for avoiding flying objects, most of my friends merely sustaining the damage caused upon impact rather than attempting to avoid the impact altogether.

Somewhere in the guild, I didn't see exactly where since I had my back turned at that very moment, someone sent Elfman flying in a direction he should've avoided. He probably realised this, but since he was already airborne he could do nothing as he ruthlessly made contact with the small round table, efficiently knocking it and all that had been on it to the ground. Including a plate containing a slice of strawberry cheesecake.

By the agitated roar that followed it could only be assumed that the owner of that cake was the scarlet fury named Erza Scarlet. There was a whimper of pure terror before the very large man was airborne once more, now heading for the bar. I didn't know that yet, of course, since I as mentioned had my back turned towards the hall and the pandemonium that ruled there. My survival instincts weren't triggered either since he wasn't heading for me. He was heading for Gray.

With a crashing sound the boys made contact, Grays head having a close encounter with the bar counter as his glass was sent flying into the air heading for me. NOW I reacted, grabbed the book and tried avoiding the object without much luck, though I DID avoid wetting the book. I was knocked to the floor, my hair soaking wet and reeking of beer, my nose sore due to the hard object that had crashed into it.

Elfman, hardened after years of being thrown into things quickly recovered and jumped back into the mass of fighting bodies once more. Perhaps HAD he sustained a minor head injury since Titania at the moment was busy showing them all WHY she was the strongest female in the guild as she swiftly offed them one by one while grieving the loss of her cake. Going back into THAT wasn't exactly the best of ideas.

In the meantime a very disoriented Gray fell to the ground, which happened to be the spot where I just sat up, once more knocking me to the ground as I had just been sitting up, the boy now on top of me. I noticed now that SOMEHOW in between being knocked half unconscious and falling he had managed to lose ALL his clothing. I, of course, shrieked in horror, accompanied by a familiar female voice behind a pillar.

The next I knew I performed my well honed Lucy Kick and imbedded the ice mage into the wall across the hall. The moment after all fighting discontinued as the whole guild flooded to the wailing of betrayal. The sun most certainly left the whole town of Magnolia at that very moment and my good mood left with it. Now I stood by the bar, feeling like a drowned cat, a drenched book in my hand, my hair smelling of beer. THIS.. was the definition of a bad day.

With determined steps in my wet boots I made my way to the mission board, snatched a flyer from it, went back to the bar where Master, somewhat unaffected by the flash flood, no matter HOW, sat while smiling at his children and drinking his ale.

"I'm going on a mission," I uttered darkly, dared him to question me. He didn't, just approved the mission with his stamp and yelled something lewd at Macao that laughed heartily and replied something equally lewd. I was sure that it would be even worse if I knew the full meaning of the comment.

"Would you like a towel to dry yourself off before you leave, Lucy?" Mira asked from behind me and handed me a white towel without waiting for a reply, then proceeded to look over my shoulder in order to read what kind of mission I had signed up for. I looked at it myself, had just picked it out on random, really. A filing job at.. Love and Lucky. The place where Father worked… Great, going from one family to the next. This REALLY wasn't my day.

"Hm, you sure you want to do that?" Mira asked, but my mood was already too black for me to return to the land of the sun in a while.

"I already got it approved… I'll be back in a few days time, I guess," I muttered the reply as I left for the door, the towel resting on my head.

"Okay, dear. Call me if you need me, 'kay?" she called after me, the barmaid that more oft than not acted like a doting mother. A filing job. Paper work in other words. Incredibly dull more likely than not. I guess some family time wouldn't be too bad, especially since Father HAD sworn to better his ways.

* * *

Okay. After showering and washing my hair extensively in order to get the beerstench out of it I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom once more. Keys, check. Fleur de Toile, check. Money for the train, check. Change of clothes, check. Okay, did I look good? Yes. Yes I did. I was good to go then! Clad in a blue skirt and a white shirt with a blue cross and a belt with my keys and whip plus my bag of clothing I left my apartment for the second time that day, locking the door behind me. Off I went on my way on another adventure, a possibly very frustrating one.

The sky had cleared after the outbreak of Juvia Lockser after the accidental and not too welcome close encounter with a naked Gray, so the sun shone down on me once more as I entered the train, not accompanied by my usual nauseous companion. The train was set into motion and the scenery passed by swiftly as the train accelerated.

Green fields, green like emeralds in the bright sun, the blue sky working as a nice contrast between heaven and earth. What separated the two would be distant mountains, topped with white if they reached a certain height. When the separation wasn't in the shape of mountains it would be forests or perhaps the occasional sapphire blue lake or river. The landscape was beautiful and had my mood been like when I first woke up I would've loved it. I still did, but…

It had been a while since I saw Father last. At the time he had given me the impression that he had forgiven my rebellious escape, and I had given him the impression that I was willing to try forgiving him for what he had done. The farewell had been.. hopeful. Hopeful because it might mean that we at some point could meet as friends, or at least not enemies. The scenery passed by, but my mind was occupied pondering about the approaching encounter.

* * *

Time flew by, yet it went painfully slow. Minutes passed by like hours and hours like minutes. Before I knew it I had left the train and stood before the guild where my parents had met. The sky was still brilliantly blue, but clouds had started to slowly close in on the unsuspecting sun where it sent its rays down upon the world. Perhaps would it start raining before the day reached its end.

* * *

"Okay, sign here, here and here..." the man instructed me, pointed at the designated areas on the paper in front of me. There sure was a lot to sign before I could start my petty job as a filer, whatever that implicated. I was in a small room. White walls surrounded me and the only furniture was a wooden table placed almost frighteningly accurately in the middle of the room. On that table the only object was the contract I had been asked to start signing. There were no windows and the floor was wooden.

"Sure..." I muttered back, started signing my name in those spots. Then again, Father was known for being a man that liked keeping all aspects of his business on paper. Speaking of Father...

"I'm sorry, but where IS Jude?" I asked, looked up briefly to catch the gaze of the man that had welcomed me into Love and Lucky. He was short, had brown hair and a moustache. Round glasses. He was the kind of person I was sad to say would be pushed around a lot. The kind of guy that would be given the tasks no one else wanted to take on. And he seemed to take on those jobs with a jolly smile, unaware of his status as an office lapdog. Well, at least I WOULD'VE said that hadn't it been for his eyes. The eyes of a smart man that knew how to con people.

"Ah, well.. he didn't feel too well today. Said something about drinking too much," the mousy man replied and I stopped for a second to contemplate the meaning of his words.

"Okay.. here too?" I asked, pointed at a spot I was uncertain about whether to sign or not.

"Yes, that's right. And there." he confirmed and pointed at another spot too.

"Got it. Father was drinking too much? Are you sure we're talking about the same person? Jude Heartfilia?" I asked. I was surprised due to the fact given to me. Father liked control in most situations and alcohol did not serve as an exception. He hardly drank more than a glass at a time, ever. Only when he was severely stressed out.

"Yes, Mr. Heartfilia also said that he didn't want to be here because you'd be angry with him. Are you done yet?" the mousy man explained while he looked intently at the paper that indeed was well and done signed up and down and to the sides. Father and his paperwork...

"Yes. Why would I be mad?" I asked, put the pen down. Why WOULD I be mad? Sure, we had our differences, but it wasn't like I actively would attempt starting another fight between the two of us.

"Congratulations," the man said then. He HAD told me his name, but I had forgotten it. He was the kind of person that would be forgotten in the blink of an eye. His reply didn't make sense according to my question either.

"Why?" I questioned. Why did he congratulate me? Swift as a hare, or perhaps a snake, he took hold of the paper I had been signing and it was gone before I knew anything more of it.

"On your marriage, of course," the man smiled at me. Beamed. Father was afraid I would be mad? Why would he.. then the words hit me. On my marriage, of course. My marriage. Marriage. Ah.. the CONTRACT.

"What?" as I uttered that single syllable my voice had already reached a tone that everyone I knew would know meant trouble. Father feared I'd be mad. Apparently he had a valid reason since I apparently just signed a form of consent that now pronounced me as the wife to.. someone. No wonder he drank last night.

*****I think it is a good one, if not a bit empty of content right now.*****


	2. Chapter 2, The Husband

*****I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. I'm feeling particularly creative today, so I decided to release this little darling rather than spend my time doing other stuff. Not that I can't do those either... in any case, let's proceed!*****

"Well, technically you're not ACTUALLY married," the man hastily added BEFORE I had managed to decide what kind of death he deserved and figure out how to contact Erza in order to execute the verdict.

"So what I just signed was NOT a marriage contract?" I asked.

"Yes it was." he replied.

"Then how am I technically not married?" I asked. What the hell was he on about with his technicalities?

"Oh, you ARE indeed married. Allow me to explain," he said them. Oh, he better explain this because I saw no flaw in my current situation if I had indeed signed a marriage contract thus legally binding me to another person. All this while I thought I was signing some working contract of sorts.

"Please do." I said, my voice encouraging at the moment but also borderline threatening as I stared at him intently, trying to figure out where he had hidden the contract in case I needed to retrieve it fast. Where was Natsu and his ability to put things on fire when I needed it?

"It is a temporary agreement, but your father insisted that we make the marriage part legit in order to ensure success in the actual mission." he explained, the man with the name I had forgotten. Ophis.. or Claude.. was it? I had no idea. Indeed, the thought of Jude Heartfilia as a man that preferred following any route in order to ensure success sounded legit.

"Okay... that DOES sound like my father. But then again, just marrying me off without any warning or other reason but to ensure the continuation of his business ALSO sounds like him." I said. indeed. Jude Heartfilia HAD tried on numerous occasions to marry me off. I had already told him off once but that didn't seem to be enough.

"Well, this WOULD ensure the continuation of his work." the man said. The hell was it with this person, was he allergic to straight answers or something? Did he ENJOY leaving me in the dark with only the knowledge of my terrible blunder when it came to signing weird stuff without reading them first? I actually ought to know better. Father had taught me better. Sadly though, Fairy Tail had allowed me to ease up on such formalities in order to just charge straight in, attack first and ask questions later. I really needed a break from all that though matrimony hadn't really been my intended idea of such a vacation. Damn.

"But you said it was temporary, so at least for now I'm here to do something else than just bear sons for my current.. husband." the word was hard to pronounce and felt wrong on my tongue. Father would pay dearly for this later on. But first I needed to wry the rest of the mission out of this slimy scumbag that was well educated in walking around the bush. If this WAS indeed a mere marriage I WOULD confront my father about it, but as the one closest to me at the moment this guy would end up as collateral damage since I would need to vent my anger on someone.

"Why yes." he said, left me standing there none the wiser. How the hell would I manage to wrench the details regarding my mission out of this guy?

"This is NOT a mere filing job, is it?" I asked further in order to at least safely exclude that from the world of possibilities.

"I suppose you already did your filing by signing that contract. The details regarding your further involvement in this mission will be given once you wake up," the man mused.

"When I wake u..?" I was cut off as several sets of strong arms wrapped themselves around me from behind and a wet piece of cloth was forced in front of my mouth and nose, smelling distinctly of...

"Say, does this smell like chloroform to you?" asked the glassed man, and that was the last thing I remembered before I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

I opened my eyes, stared at grey ceiling. It was a ceiling I had never seen before and that told me that yes, I was indeed on some mission at the moment. I was NOT home. The thought made me grimace as I stretched my arms far above my head and sat up in the bed that definitely was NOT my bed. It was too big. Too grandeur. It was the kind of bed that would be found in old castles and that would fit a married couple in it. Married couple.. MARRIED. Ah. I remembered.

Grey. Grey was a word that could describe the room very well. No tapestry, merely grey rock like the ceiling. Grey bed sheets. Even a grey carpet that covered part of the floor. I had always adored pink, even before everything. Before I decided to grab my own freedom and make a run for it. Therefore this was a dull room. I didn't like it. It felt like a prison, even with the soft bed and the floor that was made of mahogany as far as I could see from the dark wood that remained uncovered by the carpet that looked very expensive. There was a nightstand next to my bed too.

The daylight barely managed to enter the room, but made it through a small crack and lit up a stripe on the floor through a heavy set of curtains that probably covered a large window. As part of my morning routine I opened the curtain and.. groaned. The curtains went from the ceiling to the floor, but only a small window awaited me on the other side. The kind of window that was barred and obviously made to avoid anyone getting in or out. No summer breeze for me. A grey sky without blue in sight. This would be a terrible day, surely.

On the nightstand by the bed two things were placed other than the lamp that remained unlit at the moment. It had a grey lampshade. The things placed next to the lamp were a letter and a mask. I lifted up the letter and broke the seal, skimmed through it's content.

_Welcome, Dear Princess._

_This mission requires you to wear the mask and the perfume around your husband at all times in order to conceal your identity. You are not to speak to your husband, nor are you to spend any length of time with him at a time. Avoid bodily contact if possible. You are not to leave the castle during the length of your mission._

_Now when the ground rules are established some useful information should be enclosed in this letter. You and your husband are the only two that are supposed to be in this castle. You do not know who he is and he does not know who you are. Apart from the lack of intimacy between the two of you you remain a couple bound by holy matrimony. Food is prepared at mealtime every day at a separate location and will be brought to the dinner table by magic transportation. The food will appear and disappear whether or not you are there, so be sure to meet up at breakfast, lunch, supper and tea if you wish to be fed. Clothing will be found in the closet and the bathroom should accommodate your every need during your stay here._

_Your role during your stay is purely that of a maiden. You are not to engage in combat. Your husband is the sole fighter and he will be given the order to protect you as well. If you are trained in the arts of combat he will not know and both of you are to act as if that was indeed the case._

_I hope your stay will end up in success regarding the mission, a mission that your husband will be given further instructions about._

_Sincerely, Claude Ophis._

I stared at the letter for a while, tried finding any sort of indication that this was indeed a joke. I was a bloody maiden incAPABLE OF COMBAT?! And my HUSBAND.. ugh.. was the only one to know what the mission was really about? What was I even doing here? I needed to find a lacrima in order to contact the guild. This was just too.. bizarre. And Claude Ophis... he had managed to leave me more confused than I initially was upon finding out that I just got married. Lovely. Why... WHY?!

Into the bathroom. It was indeed equipped to accommodate my every need with a large bathtub that easily could fit ten people in it and an ornate shower to go with it. In front of a large mirror I washed my face in a basin that also fitted the grandeur style this bathroom was themed in and looked at my reflection. Brown eyes, blonde hair. Speaking of hair, I would need to do something about that bed head. Out came the brush and I started the oddly comforting task of brushing through the knots in my hair, finishing it all with a small ponytail in order to keep it out of my face.

On came the dress, a frilly thing in different shades of red and the mask followed, a golden mask that covered the top half of my face, including my nose but leaving my mouth out so I at least could do things such as eating and drinking while wearing it. A good thing considering how I would spend some time eating with the other resident of this place. The mask was ornamented beautifully and would've fitted well in at a masquerade ball.

* * *

I walked in the hallway looking for the dining room since I was quite hungry, mask and perfume in place. The perfume was quite potent, stronger than I'd prefer, really, and giving off a sweet scent of roses that lingered wherever I went. Now, where was that dining room? Claude HAD told me there would be one, but not where, nor what time I was supposed to be there. I didn't even know what time it was, just that it was daylight from what I could see out through the window in my bedroom. It had been quite the view, the ocean stretching out before me, telling me that this castle or whatever it was was situated by the sea, if not on it.

It was about ten minutes of wandering and looking into a vast quantity of bedrooms when I finally heard footsteps. He might be lost too... well, unless he was off looking for me. I arrived at a spot where the hallway divided into two separate ways and I turned in order to follow the sound of the nearing footsteps since I was sort of curious as to who this person was. He had very firm footsteps, and was that the sound of rustling armour? I rounded the corner and saw...

"YOU!" I exclaimed and pointed an accusatory finger at.. Erza Scarlet. I was MARRIED to ERZA?! What? The armoured woman stopped when she spotted me.

"You must be his new wife. It's nice to meet you though there might be a misunderstanding in the circumstances of your matrimony," she replied, unfazed by my very unladylike performance. He? So I WASN'T married to Erza. Somehow that was a huge relief. But.. what was she doing here then? I stared at her, hoping for some explanation to occur, though the mask most likely prevented her from fully reading my facial expression.

"Not that you're not sweet or anything, just.. well, he is an idiot. Do you know where he is, I've been looking for him for a while though this castle is most confusing," she continued, probably interpreted my silence as a feeling of being insulted. She knew him? I still stood there, flabbergasted and not at all grasping the current situation when running footsteps alerted me that another being was approaching. Was this the man I had unknowingly bound myself to? The person rounded the corner, and my mouth went to the floor as the indication that his appearance made him my... Then I brushed it off. Now way was I married to HIM. Even HE wasn't THAT stupid.

He stopped dead as he saw the two of us, or rather.. Erza, and I think I saw him pale.

"E.. Erza?" he asked, his voice borderline trembling as he managed a shaky smile. Only Erza had that effect on him, but then again Erza had that effect on most people.

"There you are. I've been looking for you," she declared, and he dragged a hand through his spiky, pink hair.

"You have? Why? You can't possibly be the girl I'm supposed to protect. Are you?" he asked, and I felt my whole body shiver as his question made the possibility of this.. No. I was not.. married.. well, I was, but not to HIM. No. I was absolutely NOT married to my partner.

* * *

FLASHBACK

"..Natsu's not here today. Heard he went on some mission with Happy earlier this morning."

FLASHBACK END

* * *

No. It couldn't be. Could it?

"No, I'm assuming THIS would be the girl.." she pointed at me.

"..but I am here to fetch you back," she continued, completely ignoring my ability to understand anything. I felt like some object. A lamp or something that just happened to be there as they discussed the possible ownership some people might or might not have over me.

"Oh, hi there, Madame.. or.. something. I'm Natsu and I'm the one hired to protect you from the monster." Natsu greeted, smiled at me politely before turning back to the only person he thought he knew. Obviously he didn't recognise me and obviously he didn't know what matrimony meant... This day that had already had a rough start wasn't getting better anytime soon.

"I was told I was here to slay monsters or something, not guarding some princess in distress. It's BOOORING, so you can take over if you want." he continued speaking to the redheaded woman that was on Team Natsu and that I had accompanied on several missions already.

"Why you.." I uttered while I clenched my fist, ready to hit him for his stupidity when I was disrupted.

"NAAATSUUU!" came another yell and running into view came none other than Lisanna Strauss, stopping as she caught up with the three of us.

"Hm, Lisanna? What're you doing here?" he asked, folded his arms as he looked at his two guildmates with a question-mark written all over him.

"What do you think Lucy's going to say when she finds out?" the take over mage reprimanded, jabbed him with a finger while she looked at him angrily.

"What're you talking about? What does Lucy have to do with this?" Natsu questioned, not too comfortable with the angry glare yet clearly not understanding the reasoning behind it. Nor did I, for that matter. Had I not been the cursed being bound to this particular dolt I wouldn't really have seen the harm in this current temporary arrangement. But I WAS that girl.

"Oi.." I tried interfering, but I was ignored.

"You just went and MARRIED some stranger WITHOUT consulting ANYONE!" Lisanna continued her assault.

"OI." I tried again.

"What do you mean, MARRIED, I never MARRIED anyone. What're you on ab.." and Natsu finally understood enough of the situation to start talking back.

"OI!" I yelled, my anger rising with each attempt to gain the idiots attention, by now reaching a level that practically sent a dark aura out that had every intention to strangle the boy that was so clueless I could just SCREAM out in frustration. They all turned to me, the alleged stranger that was no stranger at all.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL.." I pronounced every syllable of his name, folded my arms and tapped my foot in indignation. His eyes told me he was awaiting my message. I sighed.

"You don't know what holy matrimony is," I declared, didn't even bother phrasing it like a question. It was so obvious I could cry.

"No. Why's that so important? I'm supposed to protect you from some monster. Nothing else's important," he replied stubbornly. To hell with not speaking around him, because he NEEDED to know the extent of what he had done.

"I'd wished at least ONE of us could've been smart enough NOT to sign that bloody contract but I should've figured you wouldn't exactly be the smart one out of the two of us..." I muttered darkly to myself, stopped speaking briefly in order to take a deep breath and retracting some of that seething rage that was begging me to beat the crap out of my partner that remained clueless EVEN NOW.

"HEY!" he protested, and I sent him a glare. If he could see it or not through the mask was unknown, but he ought to catch up on the aura I sent out.

"Let me FINISH. Holy Matrimony means MARRIAGE, you IDIOT. In other words, until this bloody mess is over and done with and I can go and kill Father for doing this to me..." I stopped there, my irritation keeping me from finishing the sentence.

"..." Natsu stared emptily at me.

"What..?" he then questioned, his voice meeker now. All three girls, myself included, sighed. We were indeed dealing with an idiot.

"So you didn't know..." Erza said, looked between the two of us.

"Neither of you?" she continued.

"Not until it was too late," I replied. Lisanna looked at her childhood friend and obviously had issues with thinking out a plan to escape this. I sighed again. This sucked.

"Honestly, I don't want to be in this situation any more than any of you, but Claude told me it was all a temporary solution until the mission was over and done with. After that he will nullify the contract." I continued to explain, some of the rage leaving my body and being replaced by a certain degree of despair. A black hole of despair that nearly brought me to my knees. Why ME?!

"Who's Claude?" Erza then asked.

"My client at Love and Lucky. I WAS told that it was a filing mission, but apparently some details were added with smaller letters." I explained.

"So.. you're a mage too? Wait, Love and Lucky... Mira-nee mentioned that guild recently." Lisanna said as she put her thinking face on and I held back another sigh. There were limits to how many of those I could produce in such a short time.

"Lucy..?" Erza suddenly suggested with uncertainty, her eyes widening at the sudden realisation.

"Welcome to the club of unpleasant surprises..." I muttered, my arms remaining in their folded state.

"I never knew that you and Natsu were like that.." she continued, surprised and soon muttering about how she never had seen such a development happening in her own team.

"We're NOT!" the two of us, that being Natsu and I, yelled in unison and then looked at each other.

"But it makes it more interesting, doesn't it?" the scarfed boy continued, his smile returning.

"HOW?!" I questioned loudly, and he laughed.

"It's only temporary, right? And I'm better off being with you than with some highborn lady. You're not ladylike at all," he smiled so brightly while he insulted me that I ALMOST felt that i shouldn't be beating some sense into his head. Almost. I hit him on the head, but clearly not hard enough since he continued smiling.

"I don't get why I got hired me to protect you, though," he continued. That.. was a good point, actually. Why not just hire us as a whole to take down whatever Natsu spoke of before?

"That IS a good question. What does your mission involve, Lucy?" Erza reflected my thoughts and finally regarded me as more than a stranger.

"I was to wander around with this mask while wearing perfume and if possible avoid talking or touching my hu.. Natsu. And I was under no circumstance to engage in any kind of combat. I guess that first part is pretty much wasted though. What the hell was father thinking?" I replied, thought again of the one man I blamed for my current predicament.

"Your father?" she asked. Erza knew very well that my relationship with my father was strained at best, and I understood why the notion of him being involved both surprised and worried her.

"He's the one responsible for us being here, or at least I'm assuming that. His odd behaviour is making more sense than ever. He probably hired my husb.. Natsu separately because he wanted to avoid us knowing of each other. Didn't YOU have a mask in your room?" I explained, turned to my hu.. partner, and I could see that he thought back for a moment.

"Now when you mention it, I guess there was a mask, and a letter. I didn't read it though," he replied.

"I see. So what does your mission involve, Natsu?" Erza was working things together.

"Hm, I was here to meet my spouse, whatever that is, and be on standby until some monster appeared and then defeat it. The lady was under no circumstance supposed to join the fight." he replied.

"Spouse means wife, Natsu," I explained. The explanation he had been given had been carefully phrased in order to keep him in the dark, it would seem. Or my father had just decided to go with formal speech. That COULD be the case too.

"Oh," Natsu muttered sheepishly.

"So what we know is that the two of you are married, and that something is going to target Lucy. We also know that whatever it is she isn't supposed to fight it." Titania concluded. Ugh, married. Why...

"Well, that sounds fair," Lisanna seemed to approve of the mission. I felt completely stranded by my own family right then and there. No one seemed to mind that we had a difficult situation to deal with at the moment.

"OI!" a yell came from the hallway, a voice I recognised well after all the missions we had done together.

"Erza?! OI, where IS everyone?" he muttered on to himself, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza yelled back so the boy could find our little group.

"There you are! This place is HUGE!" the shirtless boy seemed relieved that he had found someone else in this labyrinth of a castle. A sound from within.. the armour of Erza..? Erza managed to drag out a lacrima from under the gods knew where, and in the ball was the smiling face of Mirajane Strauss.

"Hi, d'you find him yet?" the barmaid asked from within the ball, a bit out of breath as if she'd been running.

"Hi Mira!" Natsu yelled to answer her question. Most members kept lacrima with them in order to stay in contact with the guild. Erza was the only one in Team Natsu that got one though. Gray and Natsu didn't since they.. well, I guess they either couldn't be bothered or they'd broken so many that they no longer would be given any. ME, well I just never got around to get one. We usually managed fine in either way.

"Good. Now Natsu, you can't just wander off and get married without telling your family!" the barmaid reprimanded the boy before turning back to the owner of the lacrima.

"Have you found the girl then?" she asked. I heard talking in the background. I guess she was in the middle of the guildhall while having this conversation. Why she would be running there, though...

"It's Lucy," stated the redhead without further ado and the whitehaired mage silenced for a moment.

"That's great news! OI, EVERYONE, it's going to be a party after all!" the white-haired beauty yelled, and massive cheering boomed through the lacrima with a volume I only knew Fairy Tail to be able to produce.

"Where are you?" asked Erza, her brows furrowed.

"We're just arriving outside the castle now. Macao and Wakaba got their wives to watch over the guild while we're gone," she replied. I sighed. Of course they were here. She didn't need to specify what castle they were outside. This was a crazy day. Odd as it was, though, it seemed like a day that had started sour but that now was heading in a better direction.

*****I don't know if you've noticed, but I am trying to make this somewhat time-unspecific, since I'm not sure where to place it time wise. Of course, it IS after the arrival of Lissanna. I will hopefully see your lot in not too long, but until then...*****


	3. Chapter 3, The Feast

*****I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. I'm trying to be reliable here, though I found out that updating EVERY day would be like working the story to an early grave. Well, it's only been days since last time I posted the last chapter, so there are no more reasons to stall.. Let us commence!*****

This... This.. wasn't like I had imagined it to be. Well, nothing really had been going my way since my decision to take the filing mission, all due to my beer stained hair and my too close for comfort encounter with Gray Fullbuster in his birthday suit. What was this.. exactly... I sat on a long table, one of four long tables in a humongous hall with a roof so far above us we could hardly see it. And here I sat, the rest of Fairy Tail sitting with me, brawling and making themselves completely at home. Master Makarov was seated on a table that was somehow elevated and in front of the four long tables, drinking his ale and laughing haughtily.

No. That wasn't what I had imagined it to be. Being married, I mean. For I WAS married. At least for the time being.

In a way, the presence of the guild would be mostly due to the marriage thing. I had been fooled by a man named Claude, a name I had payed no heed to when I first met him, but that now remained etched into the core of my brain. He had told me to sign a contract in order to start working, and I had foolishly complied, willingly signed the contract that would bind me to another being in holy matrimony, or marriage. My husband? Natsu Dragneel.

Yes, it was THAT Natsu Dragneel, the one that also went by the nickname Salamander and that I during the majority of my stay in Fairy Tail had called my partner. He too had been deceived into signing a similar contract, though it was his inability to understand fancy words that had ended with his downfall. Nor did he seem to mind. The fact that is was temporary mattered the most, and he saw no harm in the current arrangement.

At the moment I couldn't do much, however. Even though I wanted to scream and shout about how unfair not to speak of outright scandalous this mission had turned out to be I had to be content with just sitting in the middle of it all, nibbling at my food. Food was indeed transported to the dinner table in the dinner hall, a system that worked in a way that a constant amount of food always remained on the serving plates. Somewhere out there a chef had to be cursing himself and wondering about how two people possibly could consume such quantity of food and wine.

"Yo." Gray greeted as he sat down next to me as he emerged from one of the brawls, a brawl he saw it best to leave at the moment since Erza chose to enter the fight. Unlike most other males the ice mage had the ability to see a fight he shouldn't fight.

"Are you here to congratulate me too, 'cause if you are..." I muttered threateningly, though without too much spite. I was tired. Really tired. This was all too much. I had been tricked, drugged and dragged to a castle only to find out that my husband was my partner and then dragged off to what Mirajane referred to as the great marriage feast. She had later approached me and told me that it really was just an excuse to have a party, but it still stung.

"I'm not. Who would congratulate you for marrying that idiot?" he replied, took some more food from the serving plate, devoured it with a certain amount of grace, or.. well.. more grace than Natsu. That wasn't necessary graceful enough to be a compliment.

"Good." I replied. I wasn't hungry. The very though of eating anything more made me sort of queasy.

"Are you alright?" he asked then, obviously catching up on my current mood. I really wanted to sleep, but I had no idea where my bedroom was, or any bedroom for that matter since the bed didn't matter. I just wanted to lie down.

"Just tired. I'm going to the bathroom," I got up, hoping that some fresh air would do me good. That, and stretching my legs.

"I'll come with you," the boy stated, got up too, but I hit him in the head, muttered something about _how about no_, and left. My teammate stood there, and by the stinging sensation in my back he stared after me as I entered the hallway at the end of the humongous hall through that enormous wooden door. Now.. where would the bathroom be?

* * *

The ice mage did indeed look after the blonde girl as she left, feeling a nagging sensation in his gut telling him that he SHOULD be accompanying her, even against her will. But this was LUCY. She might kill him for it, or worse yet, get Erza to do it. The two girls shared a bond he hardly understood, but that made Lucy safer against the redheads rage than the other members of Team Natsu. After Lucy had disappeared out of sight he did however move over to the table where Master was sitting in hopes of getting some answers from him regarding the odd mission. He wasn't the first one to wonder, since Levy McGarden was already there.

"Mirajane!" Master yelled just as Gray made his way over, and the white haired beauty came rushing in her usual graceful manner.

"May we see the mission papers for both Lucy and Natsu?" Levy asked, sent a look towards Gray and thus showing that she knew he wondered as well what this was all about. The mission was suspicious. Too suspicious.

"Yes, of course, let's see..." Mira complied immediately and produced a book from somewhere, started to browse through it until she found the pages including the mission details.

"Lucy was to file some papers and then.. wait. She was supposed to SIGN some papers and then proceed to another location where further instruction would be given. That's an odd way of writing SIGN. Huh.." she trailed off for a bit, then seemed to shake the wonder off in order to continue to the next mission.

"Natsu was to go to a cursed castle and be given information about how to slay the cursed monster within. It says that the monster was very hard to kill, and the reward was quite high."

"Wait... Cursed Castle?" Gray put in. He didn't seem very pleased by this fact. The furrow that already had appeared on his forehead after Lucy left was now accompanied by two more.

"Yes. It doesn't say HOW it's cursed, and the word itself is actually kind of hard to make out. The slaying of the monster and the reward is what was written with big letters." Mira suddenly looked up.

"That's no good at all... Master, it says here that we're at a cursed castle," she included the little man now, and he looked away from the rest of his children to look at the ones standing near him.

"Does it? I wonder how it's cursed..." he replied, didn't really seem worried at all, but more curious than anything. Just then the wooden door across the hall opened and loud swearing could be heard.

"What's the matter Gajeel? Are you lost?" yelled Master to the Iron Dragon Slayer, and a set of red eyes connected with his.

"This is the THIRD time I've ended up here without there being any way I should've with the directions I've been walking. WHERE THE HELL IS THE EXIT!?" he yelled, clearly frustrated, and it hit them. A cursed castle, huh... It would seem that this might be a LONG marriage feast. Master looked worried for a moment, then seemed to shrug it off. A castle that prevented them to leave, eh? Fair enough. They had plenty of time.

* * *

I was tired. So tired. I had intended to go to the bathroom in order to wash my face in hopes that it would wake me up some, but a bathroom was nowhere to be found. So far I had found a number of washing cabinets as in places to wash clothes (oddly enough without any sinks present), a tea room, three secret corridors, another and much smaller dining room that also had food stocked on it and now.. a trapdoor. The kind that gave in under you and sent you screaming down a tunnel and that now had led me to a pool. I was NOT pleased. At least I had landed in water and not on hard ground, but now I was drowning due to my all too heavy dress that was dragging me under and preventing movement.

Swim. My legs and arms were moving awkwardly, fighting towards the light up there. Air. I needed air. I desperately needed to breathe.. but... The air up there was so close, yet so infinitely far away, drawing farther away still. Fight. I needed to get up. I needed to fight. I did NOT want to die. Not like this. Not alone, not drowning in some unknown castle. I WOULD prevail. The lack of air made the already blurry world blurrier, made the movement of my limbs more awkward. More desperate. I let out an underwater scream as exhausted frustration hit me, and in the same go I dragged in a good amount of water, sending my mind in to a reeling fit of panic, leaving out the rest of my conscious mind as instinct took over.

* * *

FLASHBACK

"Tread Miss Heartfilia, TREAD!" the man was yelling from the edge of the pool. It was deep, so deep that I couldn't stand, and I had been tossed into it in order to learn how to swim. I had already swallowed a vast amount of water, and my legs were cramping and my vision was blurry. My instructor knew, but did little to attempt rescuing me from my desperate situation.

"If you die here, Miss Heartfilia, it will be natural selection. It will only prove that you did not have what it takes to survive in this world." he said with that bitter smile of his, watching me drown with satisfaction. He wanted me to fail. He wanted me to.. die. My left leg cramped again, and under went my head as I swallowed another bout of water, only emerging from the water for one last desperate gasp of air when I saw another person running.

"What the HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" an angry voice exclaimed, and my head disappeared under the water again, my eyes open to see the blurry surroundings and the disappearing silver surface. I also saw the bubbles of my remaining air and the white that came when someone dived into the water and headed for me. Then everything went dark as I breathed in another breath of water.

FLASHBACK END

* * *

I opened my eyes, leaned on the side in order to cough up extensive amounts of water. I had awoken on my back by the side of the pool, the water shining brightly from some underwater lights, making it alluring and seemingly harmless. My mask was still in place, and by the feel of it it was unharmed, but my dress... My dress was torn to pieces as if ripped apart by a knife or razor sharp claws. I looked down on myself. What the... on my right arm there was a dark bruise that had the shape of a hand. Just like.. that time.

That time I was having a swimming lesson, and one of the servants that had come to serve lunch had come over me and my swimming instructor just as I was about to drown. He had yanked me up with such force that I had had a hand printed bruise for a long time afterwards. The servant got fired due to that later on. My swimming instructor did not, since my father agreed with his lessons. Survival of the fittest. He meant that the instructor would've saved me had there been any genuine need for it. I doubted that, though. The expression he bore that day had suggested otherwise.

Anyways. Where was I THIS time? I was in a room that was completely covered in dark rocks in different shades of grey and black, shaping the room in a cave-ish manner with a rounded roof. Only the pool itself had white tiles in it, and some magic lights within that lit up the water and made it sparkle. The rest of the room was dark except from the two torches that were placed on either side of a wooden door, the only exit unless I counted the hole I had entered from, a hole that now looked like a ventilation shaft to let out some of the steam from the hot water.

Other torches were placed along the wall of the room, but they remained unlit, adding to the cave-ish feel. There were two pools. The bigger one, a deep and round-ish pool that was quite deep and probably made for swimming, was placed about in the middle of the room where the roof was highest. It also just happened to be just beneath the hole in the roof. The other one was a perfect circle and was a bit smaller, with places to sit together and some kind of mechanism that was probably meant to make bubbles.

With a groan I got up, feeling more tired than ever and weighed down by the soaking dress and headed for the wooden door, entered through it and arrived.. in a locker. The same dark stones decorated the floor, the walls and the roof, though this room was more square-ish than the rounded room with the pools. In the middle of the room there was a broad bench in dark wood, and straight ahead there was a broad sink with a large mirror in front of it, showing my worn and half drowned reflection back at me. On each side of the sink that was carved into the wall there was a door in the same dark wood. Mahogany, most likely.

If my memory served me right the length of my fall would place me somewhere in the basement, which would explain the lack of windows, though I had to admit that even in the higher levels of this castle there were a distinct lack of them. Next to the doors, and between them and the wall where the door I had entered through from the room with the pools there where closets. So, in short, the room was rectangular, with a wooden door, the one I had entered through, placed on one short wall, a sink and a mirror placed on the other. The long sides had a door and a closet placed in a mirrored fashion making the room symmetrical.

Upon opening one of the closets a variety of outfits met me, neatly hung up and ready for wear. It consisted on fine dresses in one end a swimwear in the other. Not once had I seen anyone but Fairy Tail members in this castle, but everything was clean and readied at all times. Neat clothes. Food. Cleaned rooms. And SOMEONE had dragged me out of that pool as well. This was a strange place indeed.

Towels had been neatly placed on the broad bench in the middle of the room along with a thick and soft white bathrobe, so I got out of my ruined dress and left it on the bench, dried myself and slipped into the bathrobe, wrapped the towel around my head. Through one of the doors I ended up in a Sauna, so I settled down there, content and waiting to dry off before I headed off to find the rest of Fairy Tail again. I had an odd feeling of being watched, but payed the feeling no heed. Probably just my imagination...

* * *

It quickly became a game as the night approached, attempting to find the way out of the cursed castle. Drinks were drunk, and people got laughed at as they reappeared in the hall after attempting to walk in every possible direction to get out. The food had long since stopped to reappear though the drinks kept popping up when the only one to be missing for any amount of time reappeared, complete in a new dress, green this time though no less frilly and grandeur. She had just removed the mask, and tiredly rubbed her eyes with one hand while holding the mask in the other.

Most other members had already succumbed to the night and snored loudly, sprawled out in various position all over the place. Master was still awake, and his forehead furrowed due to her reappearance. Levy was sitting by his side but abruptly got up when she saw her fellow book-lover, ran towards her.

"Lu-chan!" she yelled out, made a few sleeping bodies stir a bit but nothing else.

* * *

I had found them again, Fairy Tail, after looking for quite a while. Since I fell asleep for a while in the Sauna I didn't know how much time had passed, but by the looks of it it was nighttime. The petite blunette stopped in front of me, looking worried. I remembered my bruised arm, and looked at it for a moment.

"It's a long story," I muttered reassuringly, yawned loudly. I wanted to sleep, and by the looks of it the hall would have to do. All the others were content with it, so why not me?

"What happened to your face!?" she said, and I blinked in confusion, led my hand to my face again. Now when she mentioned it, the left side was sort of sore.

"Something happened to my face?" I asked, and she put a hand up to it, touched the sore area, made me flinch slightly. It hurt.

"It looks like someone hit you," she replied.

"Oh..." I muttered back, let her lead me through the sleeping bodies towards Master that was eyeing me as well, he too seeming worried. I might've hit my head while falling through that trapdoor.

"Dear child, what happened to you?" he asked as we reached him, and I had to hold back another yawn.

"I was looking for a bathroom when I fell through some trapdoor and into a pool. I think I got the bruise when someone dragged me.." wait.. what was this? I remembered it faintly, but.. did someone yank me so I fell into the hole in the first place? No. Couldn't be.

"Lucy, I think it would be best if you don't go anywhere alone from now on," Levy stated, and I raised a brow at her. It hurt a bit doing so, because of the bruise.

"Why?" I questioned. I had every reason to question this. Yes, I had been unfortunate to fall into that trapdoor, and someone HAD given me at least one bruise for it, but...

"This whole mission was strange to begin with.." the blunette started. She didn't need to tell ME about that. Everything was strange about this stupid mission.

"..so I contacted a friend of mine that works at a library and made her look up the history of this Castle," she continued, her expression serious. It didn't look like the history would contain any rainbows and unicorns.

"While I waited for her call on my lacrima we found out something by checking out the mission flyers. This castle is cursed. How, it didn't specify. Later on Gajeel came back after going for a walk in search for some fresh air. The exit cannot be found. We are all stuck here." she said. Well, that explained why I couldn't find my way in this place, other than the sheer size of it. It was designed to get people lost. Great. But something told me this wasn't all.

"Then, not long ago, I got the call from my friend in the library..." and here was the dreaded result, huh.

"All the men that has lived in this castle has been accused of murdering their own wives." she said. Oh. OH. So there WAS a curse. A curse that made the wives end up dead, leaving the husbands behind. And then the next part hit me. I was married. I was a wife living in this castle. And I had already attained strange bruises that in some cases could be seen as signs of a violent husband.

"Natsu didn't do this," I stated quickly, and Master nodded. I spotted Natsu sprawled on the floor, knocked out either by booze, exhaustion or some opponent. Maybe a combination. He seemed peaceful when he slept. Innocent, kind of. Well, if I ignored the drool and the loud snoring. Gray was sleeping nearby, thankfully dressed in his underwear. I knew I had stayed a while in this guild when an almost naked boy was acceptable. But this WAS Gray...

"We know this, child, since he has been here the whole night. But SOMETHING did this to you, and until we know how to counter it I suggest that you be escorted at all times. We are all stuck here in any case." Master said, and I nodded.

"What about the others? Won't they all be in danger?" I asked.

"You are the only married woman in this guild at the moment. While Macao and Wakaba indeed are married, their wives aren't here, and thus they are safe. Now I suggest you two get some sleep though. Tomorrow we begin the real mission, as it was intended after the marriage feast. My child is married..." then the old man got tears in his face, and I decided to leave before he started bawling about grandchildren. This had been a LONG day, and by the looks of it I would not get away from the marriage jokes just yet. And something wanted to kill me. This mission sucked.

*****I wanted to put in the part where Wendy came to to heal her, but I didn't find a suitable spot to integrate it. The plot is thickening, and some more information about the mission was revealed in this chapter, so I hope it was to your liking. So long, folks!*****


	4. Chapter 4, The Aisle

*****I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. It has been a while, though not a very long while. We meet again, readers of my tale. May this story haunt you and taunt you and leave you wanting for more*****

"NOOOOO!" he yelled, screaming out in desperation as he was dragged to the altar to give the ultimate sacrifice. The kind of sacrifice that was not likely to ever making it possible to turn things back into the way they used to be. Well. At least HE believed so. I didn't care all that much.

"I REFUSE!" he kept on wailing, his hands desperately clawing at the ground, his protests being thoroughly ignored. His smoking would surely be ruined the way he fared, but then again, Gray Fullbuster was not one to wear anything for too long. At the moment I was watching him being dragged by one leg by the mighty Erza Scarlet, a woman so strong that she didn't even notice how he dug his fingers into the stony ground, creating marks as he was moved those last meters to the altar where a very eager Juvia Lockser was waiting. Yes. Yes, he was indeed about to be bound by holy matrimony. In fact, he was the third one to get married today.

Why? Because this was Fairy Tail, and when Fairy Tail set their eyes on a job, they went all out. That, and we had discovered an interesting aspect of the curse. Only married people could move about freely. No one managed to actually find the exit, but both Wakaba and Macao actually made it to the courtyard and other areas none of the unmarried people managed. I had gotten lost at some bath-house earlier. Therefore we came to the conclusion that in order to get out, the more the merrier, and in order to join, one would have to be married.

It was rather simple, really, and after receiving the same treatment I had little sympathy for the complaining grooms and spouses to be. It was only temporary in any case. A marriage that would end with the mission, though certain things followed the bond as long as it remained official. Firstly, it was soon discovered that no, it was not a spirit possessing the husband into killing his wife but a different entity altogether. Because of this the marriage would be carried out traditionally. As in, the newly wedded husband and wife would accompany each other at all times for protection. As such, the husbands would have to be strong.

That included Gray, Natsu, Gajeel, Master, Freed, Elfman, Bickslow and Alzack. Gildarts was on that list too, though he had not arrived with the guild. No one had been able to contact him in order to warn him against coming though, so he might make his appearance later when he found the note left for those members that had been on a mission when the rest left to stop Natsu, a mission that had failed terribly. Since Natsu was married and sort of needed to remain that way no one thought of annulling the wedding, and besides, it would be very difficult to do so since as good as everyone remained stuck in this castle while the contract was not.

Freed was the first to go through the motions, binding himself to Erza, mainly because their shared love for order would make him the likeliest to survive the ordeal. And everyone else refused anyway. There wasn't too much passion between them, of course, but this wasn't a marriage that was meant to be out of love. Mostly, anyway.

Elfman got Evergreen, the gods knew why, though I guess, in a way, the match was suitable enough. Not many others would want to marry Evergreen anyway, and Elfman, deaf to most others, would be one of the few that could stand her eternal blabbering about her role as a true fairy. I didn't know the woman too well, but knew that she had eased up some after the expulsion of Laxus, and she COULD be nice if she wanted too, just a bit.. intense.. at times.

And now it was Gray, forcefully getting married to Juvia. The choice of girls wasn't entirely random either. Not only did the partners need to be able to stand each other, but the girls also needed to be able to fight alongside their partners. Therefore the girls were picked in order to make the strong and the clever able to move freely as well. The reason why Gray got Juvia was due to her strong fighting abilities, and the fact that she most likely would murder any other spouse matched with her beloved Gray-sama.

After that troublesome affair was dealt with, the next pair descended the altar, that really just was the slightly elevated table that was placed in front of the four long tables in the ginormous hall where the feast had been held earlier. On the table stood Master himself, standing up as the priest for the occasion since he as the guild master held that kind of authority. He blessed the couples and made them sign the contracts Mirajane had readied just as the plan was decided on.

This time it was Bickslow and Cana, fitted together mostly because their fighting styles fitted well together. Alzack got right after, with Bisca of course, the both of them so red during the informal ceremony that I had to hold back a slight squeal due to the cuteness of it all.

Gajeel got up on the stage, seemingly uncaring, as his spouse to be, Levy McGarden, also descended onto the altar, getting blessed and signing the paper. Levy was a romantic like me, so I think I saw a slight blush on her cheeks, seeing how she now suddenly found herself married. I sighed. Marriage, huh. An arranged marriage had been what initially made me run away from home, and look at me now. I sent a side glance at my partner that sat next to me, seemingly not seeing the big deal at all. Marriage WAS a big deal. Of course, with so many others stuck in similar positions it DID lighten my mood some, but still. Why couldn't he see that?

The door opened, and I heard low swearing, before the door got closed again. I turned to the door. The enormous door at the end of the great hall, the only exit from this particular room, and also the door any unmarried person would keep ending up by. I stared at the door, and it opened once more. A head appeared from the crack, low swearing could be heard, and then the head disappeared and the door closed again. Wasn't that..?

"I'm going to the toilet," Natsu declared unceremoniously, got up and left. I let him leave, sighing again. We were supposed to stay together practically at all times. That meant that if I MYSELF wanted to go to the bathroom he would have to accompany me. If HE wanted to go, however, he could manage fine as long as I had someone with me. I hoped the idiot didn't get lost. Something else about this curse was the fact that while accompanying a person that was married, an unmarried person could also wander around freely, though upon parting ways the unmarried one would end up outside the door of the great hall once more when rounding some corner. It was an annoying curse to say the least, and it could not be countered until we knew its origin.

The door into the hall opened again, and in came a very frustrated being that by now finally had realised that escape was futile. His name? Laxus Dreyar. The lost Fairy that had been banned from Fairy Tail at some point, which was quite a feat considering their high threshold. Well well, he sure did find himself in quite the predicament right now. Without uttering a word he walked towards his grandfather with determined steps, the old man still unaware of his presence, though several heads DID turn as they saw him there. Little Laxus, as many called him behind his back, the socially awkward grandchild of Master Makarov. Okay, that last part I didn't know if anyone else thought, but I did. He DID have a nice side to him, hidden away somewhere.

As he stood looming over him, his arms crossed while his eyes clearly demanded that he be told how to get out, Master Makarov finally seemed to notice him, stiffened slightly before he sent a boring glance at me.

"Come here, child." he stated, and I got up from my place, walked over to the altar with a feeling of dread, though it surely had to be imaginary. I was already married. I couldn't get married to this guy. Laki might be better suited. But Laki wasn't here. Strange. I thought.. He pointed on the paper without saying a word, and the idiot of a grandson he had signed it without a second glance.

"What the HELL are you doing?" I protested loudly.

"I don't care how, girl, I just want out." he said gruffly. Master nodded at me and then at the paper.

"Like HELL I am!" I protested, felt a bit like Gray when he had been dragged to the altar, took a step back.

"Just do it, Lucy, and get this over with so Laxus can leave," Master said, seemingly uncaring, and I twitched.

"Just do it, damn it, you heard him. For fucks sake," Laxus swore as his patience wore out and he grabbed my hand, forced me to sign the damn paper. Then he just upped and left. Had he stayed for two more seconds he would've heard his grandfather start bawling about how they grew up so fast. Shit.. did he just..?

"Who wants to bet on how long it takes him to realise that he still can't leave?" someone asked, and the atmosphere eased up in an instant as several people started to laugh loudly.

"Why did you just marry me off for the second time?" I asked instead, and Master dried his tears away.

"It gives him more room to roam around in." he said and then proceeded to down his cup of booze in one go for then to yell for someone to get him some more. I sighed. Fine. Not like the guy would care anyway. I already had ONE idiot husband to look after without starting to worry about a second one. Laxus could take care of himself.

"Lucy!" another voice called out, and I looked at Jet where he stood by the door.

"What?" I yelled back at him, seeing how we stood at opposite sides of the hall.

"Your husband's calling for you!" he yelled, and snickers moved throughout the room. I almost yelled a question as to which one, but held my tongue. If I did that I would never live it down. So I sighed instead, walked down the two steps from the front table, walked down the.. ugh.. aisle, a word I would never ever be able to maintain a good relation to ever again, and stopped in front of the door, massaged my aching head.

"What does he want this time?" I asked.

"I think he said something about finding a bedroom, so he sent me to get you." he explained. Ugh. Bedroom. I COULD need some sleep, though. Some away-ness from this. I was still tired, after all, had been oddly exhausted ever since I arrived at this castle.

"Fine. Lead the way," I said then, and Jet opened the door for me, held it open until I had arrived in the hallway, then let the door go and walked with determined steps just a few paces ahead of me. He sure knew his way considering how he would've ended up just outside the dining hall after rounding the corner as he and Natsu parted ways, the gods knew why they were hanging out in the first place.

Several walls along the hallways were decorated by wall carpets, and many of those, and the occasional huge picture, hid secret doorways behind them. It was one of those carpets Jet pushed away in order to use a shortcut when the carpet unexpectedly fell heavily behind him, and I felt a hand covering my mouth before another took hold around my waist and dragged me away, in through another secret passageway. Jet wouldn't know. Or perhaps did he. That didn't change the fact that he now would find himself outside the dining hall no matter how hard he attempted to follow me.

* * *

"If you value your life, be quiet." a voice whispered in my left ear, the voice so faint I couldn't place it as either male nor female. The assailant clearly had the upper hand, though, so I just nodded, and he or she sighed in relief. The hand was not removed, though, and the person started to walk backwards with me, slowly so I didn't trip and fall. I could feel the faint breath of the stranger on my neck, where his or her chin loosely rested on my left shoulder while his or her right hand kept my head from turning. The only thing I managed to make out was a white hood.

"Good. That's the spirit. Keep walking, watch the step..." he or she even warned me as the step was upon us, and I lifted my foot sufficiently, made the "climb". What was I doing? I should fight back, damn it all! But something kept me from doing any such thing. A creeping feeling that made me shake in fear. It was as if my whole being told me that this person, whoever he or she was, could just rip me to shreds whenever they wanted. There was a strength that emanated from the very being, and a darkness that followed it that threatened to swallow me whole. The being bore no sign of being armed, but it felt like a knife was firmly pressed against my throat.

Had I not been so utterly terrified that moving my legs was my only capability at the moment, I would've cried. But the sob was stuck in my throat, stopped by the invisible knife, and the tears were there with it. Breathe, Lucy. Breathe. But what was this person going to do with me? Where was I being taken? And for what purpose. WHY.. had I not been killed already?

The minutes past like hours, and I kept walking backwards, getting a whisper of a warning whenever a set of stairs or any other obstacles had to be overcome.

"Good girl, Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Layla and Jude, member of famous guild Fairy Tail. Now go in to your husband, and do not leave his side. Things are about to take a turn for the worse." the voice said, his or her breath tickling my ear, and then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the being was gone, and my legs gave in under me.

What.. WAS that? I should be dead. They knew who I was. THAT.. was bad. HOW did they know me? Who were THEY? By the gods, I felt tired. Things were about to get worse. The voice had said that. Worse. So the curse, with the labyrinths and the random attacks wasn't bad enough? As if to answer that question, a low rumbling could be heard, so low pitched I almost didn't recognise it as a growl. Slowly I turned my head in the direction it came from, and by the end of the hall... there it was. But WHAT was it? A dog?

If it was a dog, it had to be the biggest dog I'd ever seen. While it might go for being a Rottweiler, it was so large it scarcely fit in the hallway, it's head bowed to the ground, drool dripping from its mouth where it stood, baring its teeth at me. Its eyes glowed red, and the whole thing was pretty much black. Oh crap. No way was I going up against that thing. uh uh. NO WAY IN HELL! Slowly I moved one feet under me, then another, held its gaze while I got up on my feet. As soon as I started ascending up to my full height, however, it charged. What do I do what do I do what do I do! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit SHIT!

"Poochie!"

I stood there, watching the dog charge, my legs glued to the ground and my mind reeling for some kind of escape, some solution, ANY solution, when the voice yelled out, and I felt the wind as a girl passed by me, heading for the beastly animal. Poochie..? And look at that. The dog, or whatever it was, actually stopped in front of her. I could only see her blonde hair, flowing down in almost perfect waves, and her pink frilly dress. It looked a bit odd, though...

"There you are! I've looked all over for you! Mean Poochie, it's not nice trying to kill off the lady of the castle. It's not her time to die.. yet." the girl continued, tapping the head of the animal, and then she turned.

Her face. Her face was marred by four deep gashes that ruined what would probably be a beautiful face. She smiled at me, two of the gashes opening up and showing off flesh deep within. Dark red flesh. It almost made me gag. And her dress... the whole front was all but ripped to shreds, the pieces soaked in blood.

"Yo. You are Lucy, the new lady of the castle, right?" she asked, the girl, cocking her head to the side. I nodded. This was too weird. Too freaky. Things were about to get worse. The person in the white hood had said so. And this person. She couldn't be alive. And if she wasn't, then... Ghost. I paled even more, and took in a deep breath of air.

"Good. I'm Mia. I'm the spirit of Christmas Past!" she declared, the girl.. the GHOST Mia.

*****A good ending for a chapter, I think. Nice and cliffy, with a slight scent of crack. I'll be back, hopefully in time for whatever comes next. Until then, fare thee well*****


	5. Chapter 5, The Ghosts

*****I do not own Fairy Tail, nor its characters or its storyline. I DO however possess a relative control over my production of words in this construction site of a story, and I do apologise for my somewhat prolonged absence. I could say that I will make it up to you, but hollow promises are not too far behind lies, and I do not hold enough confidence in my ability to keep such a promise. I will try though, just because. Well, enough about me, commence!*****

"Nah, just kidding. I don't even know you." she continued.

"Eh.. what?" I questioned. Of course I was scared. Of course I was frightened half out of my mind. One couldn't, however, just remain scared stiff forever with a whacked out spirit that had not yet killed me. Yes, I had caught up on that. The fact that she had stopped the dog and told it that it wasn't my time.. yet... This WAS a mission, and information WAS hard to come by.

"I'm just so GLAD! Do you even REALIZE how long it's been since a REAL lady came to this place? Oh SURE, there was the occasional wannabe, some people better off than the general population, but come ON! Don't they just REALIZE that it's people like YOU and ME that are the REAL brass of this world? They wouldn't understand, you know. Sure, they might be living in bigger than average houses, and they might wear some better than average clothing, but they're not like us, born into this world to marry off to some geezer and bear children!" Mia stopped and took a deep breath.

"Not that I ever got the chance, with me being dead and all..." she added thoughtfully, and then started walking towards me, slowly and with a poise I recognised to be the one I had been taught as a child. Small steps, straight back and a raised chin. Slowly she neared, the dog behind her disappearing into nothingness, perhaps to come back later on.

"You might've guessed it already, but Poochie there was the one to kill me. Ripped me to shreds, and I had just gotten married too, you know..." she.. I THINK.. grimaced in distaste, and then she was there, right in front of me.

"I can't wait for you to join me, you know, the others are so BOOOORING. They keep talking about getting out and how it's impossible. But we can talk about corsets, politics and nannies and OH, HOT boys! And talking about hot boys, LOVE your husband, by the way. He REALLY is a keeper, much better than the guy grandpa picked out for me. Hm, I'm not here to speak about that NOW though. The real show's about to start, and I'm here to fill you in on the rules."

Mia stopped talking again. Staring at me. Waiting, probably. As weird as it seemed I was getting sort of used to her wound. All the blood on her was old, anyways. Old and dried up. She had been dead for a long time.

"Rules?" I asked, my earlier dread wearing off. It was sort of hard being scared of a girl like this. She reminded me of girls I had met before. Girls I had mingled with in my social days back at the Heartfilia Mansion.

"Yes. For there are rules. Very simple rules. One, you are a Maiden void of magical talent. You can thank grandpa for that by the way. He always hated mages, thought them to be very.. dirty, filthy or whatever. Not the kind of person any woman of our stature should become. So no magic, huh.. what else? I swear, it's been AGES since I got to talk to anyone. Usually the librarian would be the one seeking out the new so called lady of the castle. Or the cook. Whoever was most similar to the girl. So no magic. Are there any other rules at all? I don't remember... Oh well, I'll come back if there are. A lot of us will start showing themselves now. Not all will do mere talking though. After all, this castle is made to kill you. Oh. You might want to know this one. If you die, your friends will be able to leave within the next day and night to come after it. After that, another sacrifice must be given. But until you die..." and gone she was.

* * *

"So there are rules, and consequences should those rules be broken. You are not the lady of this castle, but you ARE at present married, and that means that the use of magic not only will be nearly impossible, but it will also cause physical pain," the librarian named Sarah explained for the young script mage named Levy McGarden, that at this point had found her way to the library of the castle. Sarah was young too, wearing a white shirt and a long dark blue skirt. Glasses and long black hair completed her look, along with her kind brown eyes and a few freckles on her nose, a nice change from her pale skin.

The only thing that could be said to be creepy about her would be the kitchen knife stuck in her back, a knife that back in the day had penetrated her heart and killed her on the spot. At the moment she was explaining the rules to the blunette, her husband sitting nearby and following the ghost with his red eyes, ready to take action should the dead person decide to turn hostile.

"Okay, so no magic. Got it. Why are you telling me, though?" Levy asked back, her hands twitching to reach out and grab a few of the books in the bookshelves, but also well aware of the fact that this was important information regarding the mission the whole of Fairy Tail had become a part of.

"I can't see why not. You'll learn it soon enough anyways, but we're all stuck here. If what we are allowed to tell can make us free of this place I think it's worth it, don't you?" the librarian replied, and Levy nodded.

"Okay. What more is there to know?" Levy asked.

* * *

"The safest way to go really would be avoiding your husband. The curse is milder towards those that keep their distance to their partners, but alas... uh. Are you CERTAIN she's alright?" the girl asked where she stood by the poolside, looking at Gray Fullbuster where he sat with an unconscious Juvia Lockser in his lap. The both of them had "found" the trapdoor Lucy had "found" earlier, and the water mage had fainted upon having Gray rescue her, for then to faint again when she woke up with her head resting in his lap.

"She's alright." Gray confirmed. The girl, a young woman with brown hair and green eyes, was named Lydia. She wore a white bikini and had a dark ring around her neck and and unhealthy blue tinge on her lips, the only signs of her demise that had been caused by strangulation. She was the pool girl, and had started explaining about what she called the rules. Rule number one, no magic for the spouse. Check.

"Oh, okay. Like I was saying, the avoiding the husband part.. that ship has pretty much sailed, so then you should pretty much stick with each other as often as you can." Lydia continued, then furrowed her brows as she tried remembering what more to say.

"But you already knew that, so that's good. And there is very few ghostly possessions. They.. ehem, WE.. prefer going at you head on rather than possessing people or objects. Uh, what else. Oh yeah, hm.. this is an odd one, but there are certain.. areas, that will induce certain.. moods. Nothing murderous, but... It's not possession, just influences. The owner of this house was a pervert to boot. Most of us murder victims are young women after all. He liked bringing us to these areas from time to time..." she sighed in exasperation, as if remembering bothersome moments with what could only be assumed to be her former employer.

* * *

"EEEEEK! I'm trying to explain the.. KYAAAA. STOP DOING THAT!" the chef ghost, her name only barely revealed due to the recurring interruptions from an annoyed Erza Scarlet that was, for some reason, at that very moment, not too patient with the ghost in front of her. Allie, her name was. Freed Justine was there too, but he knew better than to interrupt his current spouse in her rampage, but he DID note that the destruction brought on the area by her seemed to be slowly healing itself as time went on.

In other words, breaking out by simply breaking down the walls would not work. He added it to his mental book of notes regarding this place, and then proceeded to patiently wait for Erza to finish so they could both head back to the great hall. Freed also noted that the girl, a girl wearing a white pair of pants, a white shirt and a white apron, topped with a white chefs hat that concealed most of her blonde hair, clearly had been stabbed to death by the look of her red stains that covered most of her front. Some of the knives were in fact still imbedded in her.

How he knew she was a ghost? Pure assumption, and the fact that the girl had referred to herself as past tense AND the mortal injuries she bore.

* * *

"HAH! I won AGAIN!" Cana Alberona yelled, raised her glass of booze while an unconscious married couple lay passed out by her side where she sat on the floor. Bisca and Alsack never stood a chance. Bickslow sat silently nearby, watching over his current spouse without much interest, just looking out for her like the mission required. His babies floated about talking like they always did.

"Where are all the other married people?" asked Master Makarov thoughtfully from his spot on the slightly elevated table in front of the other tables in the great hall.

"I don't know. Probably out exploring," Mirajane Strauss replied, sitting on the table by him and reading through the mission book, the lacrima by her side in case anybody from the outside should choose to contact them.

* * *

"I blame YOU for this!" Evergreen said accusatively, her accusation aimed at her husband that was walking by her side, Elfman Strauss. They were currently in a tunnel, or cave of sorts, where they had been wandering about for quite a few hours. The tunnel seemed to change as they went, making it impossible to find their way back to the others. Elfman muttered something about being a man, and they continued walking.

There had to be an end SOMEWHERE.

* * *

Marriage. Holy Matrimony. The act of binding oneself to another being. I had read the stories as a child. The prince and princess would meet, they would fall in love, and then they would marry and live happily ever after.

Of course... I knew, deep down, from the VERY beginning, that the world wasn't like that. There were things that couldn't just be defeated by the swift sword of a valiant prince. There WERE things that required the hot flames of the dragon instead, when the prince himself turned out to be the bad guy.

I knew that. Fairy Tail had beaten it into me, step by step, all the way to where I was now. All the way through all hardships my family and I had been through.

And now I was, temporarily, married to the dragon, with all his goofiness and tendencies for destruction. It was an arranged marriage, one I had not really consented to, in fact I had been silently raging against it for days.

Therefore.

THEREFORE...

When I discovered that I was indeed married to my partner, the idiot named Natsu Dragneel, there were implications. There was the knowledge about how NO ONE would let me live that one down. And indeed was that the case. BUT!

I groaned.

I groaned because I was somewhat annoyed, because THINKING was so damn HARD. And speaking of.. NO NO NO NO NO NO! Damn it!

I should stop this. I should SO stop this!

What was this?

THIS.. was me standing in the room I had been told to enter by the being in the white hood. Or, rather than standing, I was leaning. More specifically I was leaning against the door, and wait.. there was a reason for that. A reason named Natsu Dragneel, that yes, indeed, was my husband. So, when taking that into consideration, this SHOULDN'T be all that.. shocking or anything.

I WOULD admit that being borderline assaulted by him upon entering had shocked me. Being kissed by my temporary husband that also happened to my partner. That he on top of that decided to use tongue... Yeah. That might also explain the groan. And the hard to think part.

Let's rewind, shall we?

I stood there staring after the ghost of Mia dissipated into thin air. Staring, and wondering. Wondering how I ended up there. How I ended up in some cursed castle after accepting a filing job. And now I was being aided by some dead heiress. A DEAD HEIRESS. Could no one else see the wrongness in that statement? A. DEAD. HEIRESS. WAS GIVING ME. ADVICE. No one? Ah, no one was around.

Then there was the hooded figure. I had almost forgotten about the hooded figure, the one that had dragged me away from Jet as he showed me the way to Natsu and his amazing new discovery. I imagined the boy I was being brought to had found some bed to jump around in, seeing how I knew that some of the more grandeur beds DID make good jumping beds.

Oh, that reminded me. I looked to the side, and there it was, the door that supposedly led to my husband. Oh god. What if LAXUS waited on the other side? I took a deep breath, took a step towards the door, lifted my hand to the door handle, hesitated. If it WAS Laxus.. what would he do? Would he be.. angry? He HAD ordered Evergreen to petrify me once, but he had ordered her to petrify a number of people that day, AND the whole thing had been a mere rebellion of sorts.

I'd enter. I wouldn't fear him. And the dog, Poochie, might return too. I would not stand here and wait for that monstrosity to make another appearance.

So I dove into it, pressed the handle down and entered the bedroom, closed the door firmly behind me before I turned to take a look at the room. Very.. red. Yes, red was a good way of describing this room. Did the former owner of the castle like theming the rooms in colours? I guess SOME people used to do that.

At least the room had a carpet that was red, and heavy red curtains that at the moment were set aside to show a small window with view to the sea, the sun setting there. The bed had red pillows and a red duna and a red canopy. The lamp next to the bed, placed on a nightstand, had a red lampshade.

The sheets on the bed were all ruffled, a telltale sign of his earlier activities, telling me that my initial guess had been correct. Jumping on beds. I had to smile. No one could really know how relieved I felt for it to be Natsu sitting there, on the bed, looking at me curiously, a goofy smile playing on his lips. Even after the pep talk I was glad it was THIS husband that met me. It looked like he had woken up not too long ago. He might've had a short nap between telling Jet to find me and now.

"Lucy!" he declared, got up, and the goofy smile made a final appearance as he walked towards me.

That was when he changed. It was as if he stumbled a little, his gaze just for a brief moment focusing on the floor as he steadied himself, before he was there, right in front of me, and I saw his eyes. Dark eyes. Then I was assaulted.

His hand collided with the door, right next to my head, while the other was under my chin, lifted it up before his lips landed on mine. I felt the warmth of them, moving against my lips and all I could do was just stand there, my arms down to my sides and stare at him wide-eyed for the first millisecond or so, my mind reeling over philosophical questions and asking me very loudly about what the HELL WAS GOING ON.

That part of my brain, what I would assume to be the sensible part, was soon overshadowed when whatever hit my partner hit me as well. Or perhaps was it HIM.. nah, had to be the other thing, whatever that was.

So I kissed him back. I moved my head forward from the door and moved my lips as well, even attempted to move my hands up to get some action, because, well, I felt that I NEEDED to just feel his hair or something. My advancements only lasted for a moment, though, before my head was back against the wall as he growled and closed in on me again, even though I couldn't understand how that was even possible.

He opened his mouth, and the next thing I felt was his tongue as I opened my mouth too, groaned in frustration, or so the denying part of my sensible brain would claim later on. At the same time I felt the hand that had been by my head slide down my spine and settle at my lower back, pulling me up against him rather than up against the wall.. no door. Or wall..?

Thinking.. was not easy when I felt his lips hot against mine, and his warm hand on my lower back. His lips left mine just around now, started tracing my jawline. The other hand, the one that had first lifted my chin, on the door now, and...

I looked to the side, and yes, it wasn't my imagination. The wood under his hand was singed, almost as if he was losing control over his magic due to the intoxication, though somehow, I knew that wasn't the case. And with that astonishing realisation, my sensible brain did a raging comeback, arriving with the same old question. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON?

This wasn't like Natsu. Why was he doing this, and more importantly, why was I allowing him to? And why did some unknown and very unwanted at the moment part of my brain question what was wrong with this? It didn't see the problem, and I had to say, even though that part of me was small, it held surprising authority at the moment. Suddenly... he stopped, and when I say stopped, I mean he full out stopped, his whole body stiff as he kept his proximity, his lips still making contact but not moving. I could hear the crunch as his hand on the door clenched and crushed the singed wood.

Then he groaned, and finally moved his head away, past my head and resting his forehead on the door. He groaned again.

"Natsu..?"

"We need to get out of here..." he pressed out through clenched teeth.

"Mhm..." I agreed.

"Luce.." he muttered. Groaned again in frustration.

"We NEED to get out of here." he repeated. He might be saying that, but he was still pressing me against the wall, his hand on my lower back. His fingers were twitching and the movement sent jolts of electricity up my spine, urged me to continue whatever it was that we were doing.

"Natsu." I said, closed my eyes as I groaned too, from actual frustration this time. There might be sexual frustration mixed into it as well, but mostly plain old frustration BECAUSE of the freaking SITUATION. This had to be part of the curse. And whatever it was, it might disappear if I could just get us out of the room. In order to do that, I needed to get my partner off of me. I could think of two ways, one of them being awfully tempting but out of the question. I needed a plan that did NOT involve continuing the ongoing whatever this was to the end.

Plan B it was, then. Quickly I turned my head to the side, looking straight at Natsu before I launched my attack.. and bit him on the cheek.

Curse or no curse, that DID make him instinctively let me go as he jumped out of reach, and I yelled in victory, was out the door before he could give in to temptation or whatever it was that had made him act like that. And through all this, where the HELL was Happy? Where had he at all been during this whole mission?!

* * *

Happy sneezed. He was walking in the hallway, silently for once and looking for Natsu, something he had been doing for a few days now. Oh, how he wished Mira was here, so she could give him some fish like she always did.

* * *

Mira sneezed.

"You catching a cold, Mira?" Macao asked, and the silverhaired barmaid smiled, shook her head. Someone was probably thinking of her, she mused. Perhaps was it Jet? He had been gone for a while considering how he hardly could get very far with being unmarried at all.

"Where's Jet?" she questioned, mostly to herself.

* * *

Jet sneezed, groaned as he sat up. The last thing he remembered was tripping and falling down a set of stairs. Now, of course, he was back by the entrance to the great hall. Damn, this castle was annoying at times. Hopefully Lucy managed to find her way without him.

* * *

I sneezed where I made my way through the hallway, away from Natsu that still remained in that room of his. Sure, he might become normal upon me leaving, or when he left that room, but there was no guarantee that any such thing would happen, so to be safe I was literally distancing myself from him for the time being.

"The lady of the castle, the lady of the castle, the lady of the castle!" a chant echoed through the hall, followed by a hysterical laughter, and in front of me stood a young girl, perhaps seven years old. She was skinny beyond belief, wearing nothing but a white dress, her ribs clearly visible to show that she clearly had left this world starving to death.

"The rules have been laid, and the games begin," she declared in a childish voice, and she smiled, showing off a set of pointy teeth, old flesh caught up between them. Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit! I grabbed for my keys, felt my fingers around one of them, held it up in front of me as I recognised the design.

"Open, the gate of the Lion, Leo!" I yelled, and the key began glowing. The second after I was reduced to a trembling ball as I collapsed on the ground, writhing due to the sudden bout of excruciating pain.

"LUCY!" I heard in the distance, followed with what I could only make out as a fire dragons roar, and then I blacked out.

*****Now... I believe myself to be on the kind of sort of safe side, for now, from the almost inevitable step to the M universe, that happened somewhere within my written words. I will consider leaving T behind, but for the time being I am letting it stay, since I was a LITTLE vague on my explicit content. Okay, so that is mostly bullshit, but they only kissed. If you find this to have overstepped the T boundaries, let me know, and I might do something about it.**

**About the cliffhanger? What can I say, it is a cliff, and I am leaving you all hanging. Until next chapter, at least, a chapter that I might be releasing in a not too distant future. Things are starting to make a little sense, the rules have been lain, and the games begin.*****


End file.
